The earliest Sams recorded was a traveling bishop in the sixth century AD, who went from what is now Wales to Brittany and was venerated as a saint at the abbey which he founded at Dol, just south east of St. Malo on the Brittany coast of what is now France. A search of Wales court records, ancient Welsh Pedigrees and all of existing County records of Wales back to 1500 has failed to reveal any Sams. Therefore where this wandering bishop came from or who his ancestors were or who the descendants might have been or where they went will remain a mystery. . . .
Hassel lists Sams [and other names] . . . as Breton names . . . . He also states that there
was a large contingent of Bretons in the army of William the Conqueror . . . . At any rate,
we know that the Sams Family of Virginia came from England . . . .
The Sams Family of Virginia by Dr. Crawford F. Sams, Conway C. Sams,
Colonel Robert C. Hackett, 1981
(LC 82-70642), p. 2. (Henceforth SFOV)
Some knighted Sams were subscribers to the Virginia Company, but did not come over.
(SFOV, p. 5)
Early Samses in Virginia seem to have been "imported." I assume that means they were indentured servants, or in some way beholden to their importer. Mentioned in the SFOV book:
1635 - Elizabeth Sams - 19 yrs old - "Transport of London." daughter of Edward Sams, who died 6 months before she came over. imported by Dunstan. no further records.
1643 - James Sams - imported by Edward Murphy & John Vaughan. no further records found. assume he was killed in 1644 massacre.
1653 - William Sams - imported by Peter Knight. sailed from Bristol.
Although no records of marriage and so forth have been found, Crawford Sams makes him the father of James by a process of elimination. Beck Sams, on the other hand, has a person not even considered by Crawford listed as a possibility: Robert Sams, who came to SC in 1720.
If William Sams were the father of James Sams (b 1686-94) he would have been between 50 and 59 years old when James was probably born. Robert would have been between 18 and 55.
Other people mentioned:
1653 - John Sams
1656 - Richard Sams
1682 - Bonham Sams - to South Carolina. - did not enter Virginia until 1856
(according to Dr.C)
1692 -Constantine Sams (mariner - died intestate with no heirs)
1703 - George Sams
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Page last updated 6 September 2004